


Abbotts Creek

by MaybeItWasMemphis



Category: Ghost Adventures (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Fluff, Paranormal, Romance, Smut, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:07:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 15,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/MaybeItWasMemphis
Summary: Persephone Story had grown up on the old plantation that sat on the bank of Abbotts Creek in North Carolina. She was used to the spirits that haunted the house and grounds. Abbotts Creek was one of the most haunted bodies of water in the world and the plantation had been built before the Revolutionary War. The main house had served as a makeshift hospital in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Ghosts came with the territory but even she would admit that things had gotten bad recently. There was something evil inside her childhood home and it seemed hellbent on harming her and her family.REPOST FROM MY OLD ACCOUNT
Relationships: Zak Bagans/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 15





	1. Nana Betty is insane...

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not know Zak Bagans...like at all. I'm writing this on request and you have no IDEA the amount of research that I had to do. I also have nothing to do with the show Ghost Adventures...the Travel Channel owns that...and of course, Mr. Bagans owns himself...I hope...
> 
> Author's Note: Abbotts Creek is a real body of water in North Carolina. I used to live thirty minutes away from it. One night, not long after my husband and I were married, we decided to take a drive at two in the morning to the creek after I read about it being haunted in a library book – smart, right? We had our dog, Novalee with us. The minute my husband turns onto Abbotts Creek Road (which runs along the creek), I start having an anxiety attack – heart beating fast, having trouble breathing – the works...and I didn't even know we were beside the creek or even close to it. My husband was following a silent GPS that I wasn't paying attention to and it was too dark for me (I'm night blind) to see anything. My husband didn't even remember seeing a street sign (the GPS told him where we were) so I KNOW I didn't see it. The creek was blocked from view by trees and completely invisible in the dark. My husband decides that I am freaking out enough so he's not going to tell me where we are. He's just going to drive the ten-minute length of the road and turn back onto the main highway. We aren't even half a mile onto the road and Novalee starts losing it in the backseat at the same time that all of our windows fog up. Now, Novalee was one of those weirdly silent dogs. She wasn't a very vocal animal so when she did bark or growl we immediately paid attention. She starts growling low in her throat and showing her teeth...I had never heard her sound or look so mean and I never did again after this (and she was a Jack Russell Terrier. Their hunting dogs. I never heard her make that noise when she was trying to catch squirrels or birds...not even on the rare occasions when she caught them). She started pawing at the window button because the annoyingly smart dog learned how to roll it down when she was just a puppy. She gets the window down just a little and goes to jump out of the window of a moving car. My husband had to roll up the window and put the window lock on. Needless to say, he did an illegal u-turn in the middle of the road and got us out of there real quick. When we are safely back on the brightly lit highway, my husband finally tells me where we had just been...and there was more. He goes, “Hey babe, you know those Dementor things from Harry Potter?” I tell him that yes, I'm a mega fan so of course, I do. He says, “In the movie, Harry said they made him feel like he would never be happy again...and that's totally how I just felt on that road.”
> 
> Very long story short, I 100% believe all the legends saying that creek and area are haunted. There are so many supposed reasons for it being haunted...I will use one in this story later so I am not going to tell you any of them. Google was invented for a reason if you're that interested.

_“The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.”_

**\- Edith Hamilton**

_**The Story House** _

_**Kernersville, North Carolina** _

_**May 2009** _

“Nana, if you have any concern for my sanity you will tell me that you are joking.” I pleased as I rested my head face down on my desk. I knew Nana Betty could be a bit out there but she wasn't this crazy.

“Their show is very popular,” Nana Betty defended herself. I'm pretty sure she was seated at her desk but from my position, all I could see was the shiny polished wood of my desktop. “Plus, even you have to admit that things have gotten worse lately.”

Almost as soon as she said this a loud thunk – like the sound a piece of heavy furniture made when it was dropped – came from the third floor. Neither me nor Nana even bothered to look up. Sure, we could go and investigate but we would be wasting out time. Everything in Jacob Story's bedroom would be exactly as it should be. We were used to that noise. This plantation had been in our family since 1756. I had been raised in this house and ghosts were real...and they didn't scare me.

“That's just Jacob. Williow was in his room dusting this morning. You know how much he hates it when people touch his things.” I briefly wondered if I was insane. I spoke of my long dead ancestor like he was my (living) grumpy uncle who lived in the guest room.

“You know I'm not talking about Jacob!” Nana Betty snapped so sharply that I actually picked my head up to look at her. “I'm talking about whatever moved in after GiGi died.”

GiGi is what he had called my great-grandmother. The old woman had lived long enough to see the sinking of the Titanic, women get the right to vote, two world wars, and man's first steps on the moon. She had died last year one month shy of her one hundredth birthday.

Ever since GiGi had died something evil had descended on the plantation. Stoves and electric heaters turned themselves on when no one was around to look after them. This had caused several small fires to break out. Nana Betty and I had both encountered a hooded figure. Guests who stayed overnight were scratched and bitten by unseen forces.

“The entire plantation would have gone up in flames if Trey hadn't forgotten his cell phone in the kitchen and come back for it.” I knew that she was right. According to Trey, who was the plantation's chef, when he arrived in the kitchen, the flames on the stove were over a foot high. “We need help, Persephone.”

“I know we need help,” I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “But couldn't you call a preist...or the Winchesters? Why did you have to call a reality TV show?”

“This is North Carolina...finding a priest is about as easy as finding a liberal at the Republican National Convention.” Okay...point to Nana Betty. We weren't exactly swimming in Catholic churches. Baptist churches on the other hand...if I threw a rock I would probably hit two and a reverend. “And I don't know these Winchesters.” Nana Better shook her head in confusion. “Who are they?”

Oh dear, sweet baby Jesus, I really needed to get Nana Betty to watch more TV.

Because of my almost pathological need to be a smartass I spent a good portion of the rest of the afternoon explaining the life stories of Sam and Dean Winchester to my grandmother.


	2. Demons and Kurt Cobain

I had been having such a nice dream. I was a little girl and I was fishing with Grandpa Phil on his boat on King's Mountain Lake. The weather was beautiful. It was sunny and warm with a mild breeze keeping it from getting too hate...a perfect North Carolina spring day. The smell of muddy lake water invaded my nostrils and the fish were biting like crazy. Papa Phil's cooler was close to overflowing with catfish of all sizes and we hadn't turned on the fish finder once.

Suddenly, a large black cloud blocked out the rays of the sun. Papa Phil was nowhere to be seen anymore. The boat gave a sudden lurch and I was thrown into the muddy water of the lake. No matter how hard I swam, I couldn't break the surface. I couldn't breathe.

My eyes shot open and I found myself lying in my four-poster bed...but something still wasn't right. I still couldn't breathe and when I tried to move my arms or legs, nothing happened. Some invisible force was holding me down.

“ _In the name of Jesus Christ,_

_Our God and Lord,_

_Strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary,_

_Mother of God,_

_Of Blessed Michael the Archangel,_

_Of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the saints,_

_And powerful in the authority of our ministry...”_

The unseen man's voice sounded familiar but I really didn't care who he was. All that mattered was that with every word he spoke, whatever had a supernatural hold on me loosened its grip just a little more and it became easier to breathe.

“ _We confidently undertake to repulse attacks and deceits of the devil._

_God arises;_

_His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him.”_

Suddenly the pressure on my throat eased completely and I could breathe again. Gasping for air, I reached my hands up to massage my sore throat and my relief, the actually moved.

Terrified of giving whatever the fuck had just been holding me captive a chance at a repeat performance, I jumped out of bed.

“You okay?” My savior was suddenly at my side so I was able to get a good look at him. He looked familiar but the fear and adrenaline still running through me was making him hard to place.

“Yeah,” I nodded and ran a shaky hand through my sky-blue (I'm unique, okay?) hair. “How did you know I was in trouble?” I asked. It wasn't like he had been taking a midnight stroll through my bedroom...at least, I hope that's not what he been doing. Enough creepy shit had happened for one night.

“I just checked in and was headed towards my room when I heard moaning...and not the fun kind. I was feelin' some bad vibes outside your door so I decided to check on you.”

Bad vibes? Who the hell was this dude?

“Well, thanks for the rescue.” I smiled awkwardly. I was still trying to place where I knew this guy from. Maybe he had stayed with us in the past?

“No problem, hon.” He shook his head and held out his hand. “Name's Zak Bagans...and you sweetheart, have a real problem because that was a demon...a nasty one.”

Holy crap on a cracker! Now I know where I had seen him before. He was the host of Ghost Adventures! I thought they wouldn't be arriving until morning. Wait a minute...had he said demon?

“Persephone,” I shook his hand and he chuckled darkly.

“What is so funny?” I demanded.

“Persephone...wife of Hades...Queen of the Underworld...very fitting name for you.”

“Why?” I was quickly growing frustrated and if my parents were still alive I would be giving them hell for saddling me with the name Persephone.

“Because this demon _really_ likes you...” I _really_ hoped he was kidding.

At an almost alarming speed, Zak's personality did a complete 180 and he slowly let his eyes travel up and down my body, “I love Kurt Cobain,” He smirked.

I blushed a deep scarlet as I remembered that all of this drama had started with me in bed. I only wore panties and a faded old Nirvana t-shirt to bed.

“Oh, fuck my life!” I stomped my foot like a child.

This actually made him laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Catholic so the words Zak recites are actually from an old textbook from Catholic school. It's part of a Catholic exorcism prayer but not the entire thing. I have a serious case of Catholic guilt and according to the Church, this exorcism prayer should only be said by a priest. The good little Catholic girl in me wouldn't allow me to publish the whole thing or the name of the prayer...I'm weird.
> 
> What Persephone experiences in this chapter (on top of being a sign of a haunting or demon activity (that yes I believe in...I'm Catholic...DUH!) in rare cases) is actually a medical condition called sleep paralysis. It can be caused randomly by exhaustion. It has happened to me once...when my insomnia got real bad when I was thirteen and I fell asleep for the first time in three days. I woke up and I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but breathe (even that was hard to do) for a good ten minutes (that felt like a year). It is not fun and I totally understand how some people can jump right to the supernatural after it happens to them. I would have jumped to a demon or ghost too if my late mother hadn't been in the medical profession. She knew my troubles with sleep and was able to put two and two together.


	3. Tea and a Sleepover

“So, how long has this been going on?” Zak asked me from his place seated at the small wooden table that sat under the window in the house’s large kitchen.

I laughed and as I went about fixing two cups of _Sleepytime_ tea. “The paranormal stuff? The first documented incident was in 1799. My younger sister, Willow, and I were both in grade school before we realized that our imaginary friend, Andrew, wasn’t actually imaginary but instead our six times great uncle. The demonic stuff has only been happening for about a year.” I told him as I brought two mugs of to the table and took a seat across from him.

I handed him one of the mugs before wrapping my hands around the warmth of the other. I wasn’t nearly as nervous around Zak as I had been before. I was dressed now, that helped a lot. I had pulled on a bare of black leggings under my Nirvana t-shirt.

“What happened a year ago? There had to be a catalyst. Something happened. Someone played with an ouija board. Someone got sick or died. What was it?” He pressed.

“My GiGi died but the demonic crap started three months earlier...right around the time she had her first stroke,” I admitted. “It started with me and Nana Betty seeing this dark hooded smoke figure...mostly around GiGi. It’s escalated to stoves and heaters being turned on when no one is around to watch them, people - mostly me - being scratched and bitten and, of course, what happened tonight...but that was the first time it’s ever been...like...that.”

He nodded and seemed to think for a moment before speaking again. “What do you know about your GiGi? She’s your what...?” He asked.

“Great-grandmother,” I informed him. “And I know that she was born, got married, and raised every one of her nine children in this house. I know that she remembered her mother taking up a collection for survivors of the Titanic when she was really little. She volunteered with the Red Cross during WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. She knew exactly where she was when the English abdication was announced, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, the bomb dropped, Kennedy and MLK shot, man stepped foot on the moon, the Challenger exploded, Princess Diana died, and the Twin Towers fell.” I ticked off. “What exactly do you want to know?” I laughed.

He smiled a little as he took a sip from his mug. “Was she into anything...like voodoo or black magic?”

I almost choked on a sip of my tea and a little bit managed to seep out of my lips.

“Black magic, GiGi?” I laughed as I wiped my mouth with a white cloth napkin. “No,” I shook my head. “Not that I ever noticed. You can try asking Nana Betty. GiGi was her mother-in-law...but I wouldn’t expect a different answer. GiGi was a devout Christian.”

He nodded as he emptied his cup. “Okay, well, it’s two in the morning.” He glanced at the rooster-shaped clock on the wall above the kitchen doorway. “We can try and figure out what’s causing the activity in the morning. For now, we should try and get some sleep...but you shouldn’t be alone in case that demon comes back.”

“What am I supposed to do? Go and crawl in bed with Nana Betty?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I was going to sleep on your floor in a sleeping bag...but that works too.” He nodded with a smirk.

I was speechless for a moment before agreeing to allow him to sleep on my floor. A hot ghost hunter (when did I start thinking he was hot?) sure beat cuddling up with Nana Betty. She always smelled like cold cream after nine.

True to his word, Zak went and retrieved a black sleeping bag out of his truck and spread it out on the hardwood floor of my bedroom, right next to my sleigh bed.

Choosing to sleep with my leggings on for obvious reasons, I toed out of my soft ugg-looking slippers and crawled into bed, but sleep was a hard time coming.

“You’re still awake up there aren’t you, sweetheart?” Zak asked from the floor thirty minutes later.

“The last time I went to sleep, a demon held me hostage...yeah, I’m still awake.” I snapped as I sat up and punched my pillow. I needed to hit something and it was the pillow or Zak. I chose the pillow.

“I put a crucifix under your mattress when you weren’t looking and I’m right here. I’m not going to let anything get to you.” He tried to reassure me.

“You’re on the floor and I’m on the bed.” I pointed out the obvious. “The demon could get its hands on me and it could be minutes or hours before you know and that’s if you notice at all.” I was straight up panicking now.

Zak didn’t respond verbally. He got to his feet, and leaving his sleeping bag forgotten on the floor, he walked around to the right side of the bed, lifted the covers, and slipped into bed beside me. He scooted right up to my back and wrapped his arm around my waist. It was like he was my boyfriend and this was something that he did all of the time.

“There,” He spoke so close to my ear that I could feel his warm breath on my skin and I had to try and not shiver. “Now, there’s no way a demon can get to you without me knowing.” He innocently, and what he probably thought was comfortingly, rubbed my t-shirt covered stomach. “Get some sleep, sweetheart.”

He smelled like an odd mixture of sawdust and Axe body spray and his arm around me was oddly both an arousing and comforting pressure and I easily drifted off to sleep.

“Girl, you better have a good excuse for this!”

I woke up to something hitting my legs and yelling...a whole lot of yelling.

Once I fully opened my eyes, I realized that the person yelling was Nana Betty and that what I felt hitting my legs was the kitchen broom that she was attacking me and Zak (mostly Zak) with.

“Persephone Adreanne Story! Get your butt up!”

“Seriously, sweetheart? Adreanne means dark.” Zak spoke up from beside me. “Your name pretty much means ‘dark queen of hell’”

I just rolled my eyes as, mentally, I thanked my late mother and father just a little bit more for my name and pushed myself out of bed and past Nana Betty’s broom. I had a lot of explaining to do to Nana Betty if Zak was going to be holding on to his manly bits.


	4. Road Trip

To my immense relief, Nana Betty believed me so Zak was still able to father children. I’m sure his future wife would be thrilled.

Over breakfast that morning, I met his teammates, Nick and Aaron, and Nana Betty answered Zak’s questions about GiGi.

“I don’t know about dark magic or anything like that.” Nana Betty took a sip of her tea. “But she did spend a lot of time up in the attic.”

The attic had been set up as Gigi’s special quiet space. She went up there to pray, look at her photo albums, and write in her journal. No one but GiGi had been allowed in the attic when she was alive.

“We’d let you go and have a look but the attic’s been cleared out,” I informed Zak. “All GiGi’s stuff is in storage and we keep the Christmas decorations up there now.”

“Would it be possible to take a look at the storage unit?” Zak asked as he took a bite of his fruit salad. “And I’d like to have the guys set up some camera in the house’s hot spots. The TV cameras will be here in three days but we like to investigate a little in advance.” He explained.

“My storage unit is in Charlotte and that is almost two hours away.” Nana Betty told him. “I can’t be away that long but I guess Persephone can go so long as Willow doesn’t mind watching the office today.”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Willow smiled at Aaron. “I can also show the guys where to set up.”

Oh dear Lord in heaven, my little sister had a crush. And way to go Nana Betty! She volunteered me for a road trip with the super sexy guy she found me in bed with this morning. The guy who managed to give me butterflies even when I knew a demon was after me. Did she fucking hate me?

An hour later found me and Zak in my Jeep on the highway on our way to Charlotte. You would think that for two people who had shared the same bed the night before (and cuddled!) conversation would be easy. Yeah...not so much.

“So, how old are you?” Zak asked out of the blue when we were only about ten minutes outside of Charlotte.

“Twenty-one as of last month,” I replied as I pulled off the highway in the university area of the city.

“Are you in college or what?” He continued to pry.

“I graduated from UNC when I was nineteen,” I answered as I merged onto Independence Boulevard.

“What’d you major in?”

“Urgh! Why do you want to know?” I snapped as I pulled into the parking lot of the storage place and stopped at the security gate.

“Because I’m going to be sharing a bed with you until we solve your demon problem and I thought it best to get to know you? Because I think you’re cute and I’m just plain interested in you?”

I glanced over and he now had a hard expression on his face.

“Creative writing,” I answered his original question before leaning out the window to enter the security code.

As the gates opened and I pulled in, I felt like a complete tool.

We really didn’t say a word to each other as we searched through neatly packed, blue plastic bins full of my GiGi’s things. I guess that I had really upset Zak. He was the first guy to ever really show an interest in me and I had gone and pissed him off. Way to go me! I was so guarded and socially awkward that it hurt. Willow was probably right. I was never going to get married.

“Your GiGi kept journals?” Zak’s voice startled me.

I stepped away from the bin of photo albums that I had been looking through and went to his side. In front of him was a bin filled with journals of every shape, size, and age.

“Yeah...her whole life as far as Nana Betty and I could tell when we packed everything up,” I replied. “I keep telling myself that I’ll read them one day.”

“Looks like today is your lucky day.” Zak put the top back on the bin, picked it up, and started heading towards the exit.

I quickly closed and locked the storage unit before hurrying to catch up with him. Zak was already standing at the Jeep, loading the bin in the back.

“Why is it my lucky day?” I asked as he closed the hatch.

“Because we both are going to get to read your GiGi’s journals.” He confused me further. “Can I drive back? I’m not a really great passenger.” He gestured at the keys in my hand.

I tossed them to him.

“Why are we going to read my GiGi’s journals?” I asked as we both got in the Jeep.

“Because if she knew anything about this demon, she would have written about it at some point,” Zak replied as he started the engine.

Back at the house, Nick and Aaron had set up cameras in the attic, my bedroom, the upstairs hallway, and the downstairs living room where Nana Betty and I had first seen the shadow figure. Nana Betty had closed the main house to guests (the newer cabins were still accepting guests) while the team was there so everything was unusually quiet.

After dinner, where we had all been forced to watch Willow fawn all over Aaron, Zak grabbed the bin of journals out of the Jeep and (with Nana Betty’s complete knowledge and approval this time) the two of us headed up to my room.


	5. I'm Sorry

_*** July 16, 1923_

_I read in the paper today that out in California, they put up a new sign in the L.A. Hills. The paper even had a photograph. The sign says, “Hollywoodland”. Oh, how I would love to see it some day! ***_

“Hey, Persephone, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Jesus Christ!” I jumped half a foot in the air.

“Sorry,” Zak chuckled. He was seated at my desk while I sat on my bed as we read through GiGi's journals.

“It's okay,” I shook my head and smiled. “And yes, you can.” I actually really liked Zak so I was willing to try and open up.

“Where are your parents? You said you grew up here but I haven't met them.”

Oh, joy. This was the part where I told him about my tragic past – a past that I didn't even remember – and he pitied me.

“My dad wasn't...right...at least that's what Nana Betty says. When I was two and Willow only a few months old, he shot our mom and then himself.”

Zak surprised me. He didn't tell me how sorry he was or try to relate to my experience like most other people would. He just nodded to let me know that he understood and we went back to our reading.

_***April 13, 1945_

_Oh, this is horrible. What a horrible, wretched day! We awoke to the news that our beloved FDR passed away yesterday in Georgia and things only grew worse. My darling brother, Roger, has been killed in action. His son, Phillip, poor little motherless (and now fatherless) Phillip, will be coming here to live with John, the children, and I._

_It seems the curse has visited us once again. With one son in Europe and the other the Pacific, I can only pray that it is satisfied. ***_

“What the hell?” I sat up a little straighter when GiGi mentioned a curse. “Zak, I think I might have something.”

“Me too,” Zak got to his feet and come to join me sitting on the bed. “And I hate to ask but...do you know the date your parents died?”

“July 4, 1990,” I replied. “Why?”

“Read this,” He passed me the red leather journal that he had been reading.

_*** July 4, 1990,_

_I knew that something was wrong when they didn't shop for the BBQ but still I never expected this. Clay gone. Cynthia gone. There are no words. This curse will never let my family go. ***_

“You should read this.” I handed him the journal that I had been reading.

“Your GiGi believed in some kind of curse as early as World War II,” Zak said after he had read the entry and set the journal aside.

“And she was still believing it when my parents died,” I added.

“Now, we just have to figure out what kind of curse...would you mind meeting with a psychic friend of mine?” He looked up at me.

“No, I don't mind.” I shook my head. Anyone that Zak trusted, I trusted. I know that was weird because I had only known him for a few days but it was the truth.

“You look tired, sweetheart,” Zak said after a moment.

My response was to promptly yawn.

“I am tired,” I admitted what was already crystal clear. “But, one: I'm scared of the obvious and two: I'm kinda creeped out even further by the cameras.” I did not like the idea of being filmed while I slept.

Zak stood and began collecting the dozen or so journals that were scattered around my bed. He put some on the nightstand; some on the dresser.

“The cameras don't have mics enabled, there is no live feed for anyone to watch, and I will be the one reviewing the footage.” He reassured me as he deposited the final stack of journals neatly on the floor next to the bed.

Going back to the whole weird trusting him thing, his words made me feel a lot better.

He lightly tapped my hip to get me to move over a little (which I did) before pulling back the covers on my side of the bed and nodding for me to lay down. Once I was where he wanted me, he covered me up and took a step back. He was wearing a pair of black pajama bottoms and a gray t-shirt but he suddenly decided to forgo the t-shirt. Holy shit. I knew he had a nice body but...damn! I have no idea how I kept myself from drooling at the sight of his chiseled chest.

“As for your demon friend...” He said as he walked around and climbed in the other side of the bed after shutting off the lights. “There's holy water spread along every door and window, a crucifix under your bed and on the wall, and I'm here.” Just like last night, he scooted right up to my back and wrapped his arm around me. Maybe he wasn't as mad at me as I thought. “Demons hate holy water and religious icons. They also like to attack when someone is alone and feeling vulnerable. I think you feel safe with me.”

“I do,” I found myself saying as I turned in his arms so I could look at him. “I'm sorry,” I said sincerely.

“For what?” The hand of the arm that was around my waist began to softly rub my back.

“Being a total bitch back at the storage unit,” I explained. “I'm an introvert and not really good with people. Nana Betty keeps me away from working directly with the guests as much as possible.”

He chuckled before saying, “I'm not mad at you and I never was...I like you just the way you are.”

A warm feeling spread through me and I smiled. “I like you too...a lot.”

Oh. My. God. I can't believe that I just said that. What was I thinking? I had probably just made a giant fool of myself. I wanted to close my eyes against the rejection that I was sure was coming but I was a big girl and kept them open. I was a grown up. I could handle this.

Zak didn't look shocked or angry. He didn't laugh and he didn't appear to be disgusted. In fact, after a minute, he actually smiled.

“So, when you say “a lot”, do you mean that I can kiss you right now and not get injured or do you mean you'll just stop being a bitch to me?” He asked playfully, a warmth in his pretty eyes.

“I'll probably always be a bitch to you,” I told him truthfully. I was a bitch and I owned it. “So, I guess it means you can kiss me.” He wouldn't actually do it...would he?

A second later, I got my answer when he leaned forward and gently sealed his lips to mine. He ran his tongue along the seam of my lips one time and gently nibbled on my bottom lip before pulling away. He laid back on his pillow and just...studied me...like I was a priceless Leonardo Da Vinci painting hanging in the Louvre.

I was in the shock. I had never been kissed before (because I was a poor excuse for a millennial) so I didn't know what to expect but I hadn't expected THAT! I didn't know that simple kiss could feel so good...or make that many emotions stir up in me.

“That was your first kiss,” Zak said as a statement, not a question as he scooted a little bit close so that we both lay on our sides without fronts flush against one another.

“How'd you know?” I asked. I wasn't even going to attempt to deny it. I'm sure I had done something to give it away.

“When I ran my tongue along your lips, you didn't open your mouth.” He didn't sound like this had bothered him at all.

“Oh, God.” I groaned in embarrassment. He had wanted to French kiss me and I had been too stupid to get a clue. Clueless, party of one!

“Hey, it's okay.” He laughed and kissed the tip of my nose affectionately. “I liked the kiss...so much that I'd like to do it again if it's okay with you?”

Amazed by the fact that he actually wanted to kiss me again, I just nodded slightly against my pillow.

This time, he didn't have to lean in very far to press his lips to mine and this time, when I felt the tip of his tongue on my lips, I didn't hesitate to open my mouth. I always thought that French kissing would be gross but the feeling of his tongue exploring my mouth and the taste of his cinnamon toothpaste mixed with his _Listerine_ smelling breath was...nice.

This time when we parted, I giggled, “Well, at least when people ask who my first kiss was with I can say Zak Bagans and not, like, the bagger at the local _Food Lion_.”

Zak briefly took his arm from around my waist so he could reach up and tuck my blue hair behind my ear. “What if I was your first and your last kiss?”

Hold the phone. Be kind, rewind. What was he saying?

“What?” I needed clarification...badly.

“What if you were my girlfriend and we played for keeps?”

“Seriously?” My heart rate shot up.

“I won't lie. I'm possessive, I'm dominant, and I'll probably drag you all over the world chasing things out of your worst nightmares...but I like you. I care about you and I want to be with you...if you'll have me.” The arm around my waist tightened a little as he spoke.

“I'm bitchy, anti-social, and I'll ignore you on a regular basis to read and write,” I warned him. “I have no clue when I'll be ready for sex but...I want to be with you too.”

Even in the dark, I could see the wide smile that overtook his face before he pulled me forward for another kiss.


	6. My Own Personal Dean Winchester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't lie. In this chapter, I took a Wiccan banishing spell that I got from a friend and turned it into a prayer. I'm sorry if that offends anyone. That was not my intent.

I awoke to the most terrifying sight that I had ever seen. Hovering above my bed was the hooded shadow figure...but for the first time, I could see its eyes. There were purple and glowing so they were hard to miss. Even though it was May, the room suddenly felt so cold that you would think that it was December and Nana Betty had forgotten to turn on the heat again.

As the figure with the glowing eyes slowly started to descend towards me, I quickly reached over to wake Zak...but he wasn't in bed beside me. Where the fuck was he?!

The figure was getting closer.

“ _By the creativity of the Father,_

_This prayer was written._

_Sustained by the unending energy of God.”_

_The Lord, Jesus Christ, dissolves your unwanted, evil form and banishes you this night!”_

The figure vanished and Zak was suddenly on the bed, gathering me up in his arms. “Persephone, are you alright, baby?” He asked as he kissed the top of my head.

My brain registered that he had never called me that before as I slowly nodded my head. “Whe...where...were you?” My voice shook and I tripped over my words. Why hadn't Zak been in bed beside me? He told me that he would protect me.

“Nick came and got me to let me know that they had captured some kind of shadow figure on camera. You were sleeping and everything seemed quiet so I went to check it out. I was only gone ten minutes. The demon must have used the other figure as a distraction. I'm so sorry, baby.” He held me tighter. “It won't happen again...I swear.”

“You've never called me baby before.” I felt the need to point out for some odd reason.

“You're my girl, you are my baby.” He told me as he gently lay me back down. He pulled the covers back up over me before moving to lay beside me and taking me back in his arms. “Baby implies something precious, something special.” He continued. “It's something to be protected at all costs. You are all three of those things to me so you are my baby. That's something that I would only call my girl or my one-day kids.”

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I was a little bit in with him at this point. I thought guys like Zak only existed in the romance novels I read when on one was looking.

The next time I awoke was much more pleasant. Zak and I had switched positions sometime in the night so when I woke up, I was lying on his chest while he was on his back with his arms around me. Oh yeah, I could really get used to waking up like this. A hot, half-naked boyfriend that was also warm and cuddly? I had hit the jackpot.

I laid a kiss on his bare chest and started to stir.

“Morning, baby.” He said with a husky voice as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Morning,” I laid another kiss on his chest, this time right about his heart.

“Sweetheart, is you do that again, my self-control is gonna snap and I'm going to fuck you into the mattress...virgin or not.” This time when he spoke the husky tone had nothing to do with sleep and I knew it.

Well, okay then. Did it make me a slut that I was kinda tempted to do it again?

Breakfast that morning was a fun affair as we explained to Nana Betty, Willow, Nick, and Aaron what had happened the night before.

“Oh, thank Lord you were there, Zak.” Nana Betty brought a hand up to her chest.

“Yeah, he was my own personal Dean Winchester last night,” I said as I took a bite of my biscuits and gravy.

Willow snorted into her orange juice and Zak playfully glared at me from across the table.

“I'm taking Persephone to visit my psychic friend Renee in Concord. I was hoping that you and Nick would go over the footage from last night – leave Persephone's room for me – and do a little more research on the plantation for me.” Zak almost seemed more determined today than he had been yesterday.

“Sure,” Aaron said and Nick nodded in agreement.

“Is there anything that I can do?” Willow spoke up. “I want to help. It doesn't seem fair that this thing keeps coming for P and leaving me alone.”

I loved my little sister. She was such a sweet, loving soul. She was a favorite of guests. She just had this natural way with people. Everyone she met felt like family.

“You can keep reading GiGi's journals,” I told her. “She had to have written more about the curse and there are over forty journals. Zak and I only made it through seven of them.”

“And Nick,” Zak got his attention. “Call Jeff and tell him that we are halting production until further notice. We've already got next season in the can so it shouldn't be a problem. If it is, just tell Jeff that I'm with my girlfriend dealing with some personal issues.”

“Girlfriend?” Nana Betty raised an eyebrow.

Subtle Zak, real subtle. 


	7. Renee

I spent a good twenty minutes that morning reassuring my Southern Baptist grandmother that Zak and I were not having sex. For some reason, she seemed terrified that just because the state of my relationship with Zak had changed so had the state of my precious virginity. Seriously, what was with southerners and the high price they placed on a woman's virginity? It wasn't like this was medieval times and a woman's chastity brought her family a higher dowry.

All in all, I was relieved when I once again found myself alone in my Jeep with Zak as we made the hour and a half drive to Concord. This time, I hadn't even thought about getting in the driver's seat. I had simply handed my keys to my control freak boyfriend.

“Thanks for all of that, by the way,” I said as he pulled out onto the highway. “Because of you, I had to listen to my sixty-five-year-old grandmother warn me about the dangers of the one-eyed snake for almost half an hour.”

Zak briefly glanced away from the road so he could give me an odd look.

I knew why he was looking at me like that and rolled my eyes before saying, “Nana Betty's term for it, not mine. She's an old-fashioned southern belle. She doesn't like using words like penis...or sex for that matter.”

“I'm sorry.” He chuckled. “I had no idea that your grandmother would react so...strongly to us dating.”

“My dad was her only child so she's overprotective of me and Willow,” I explained. “I don't think she fully understands that my dad was mentally ill. I think she feels like she failed him and doesn't want to do the same to us.”

“Well, she did a great job raising you.” Zak reached over and took my hand. “And she dosesn't have anything to be worried about.” He said as construction traffic forced him to come to a complete stop. “I'm not going to hurt you...and I won't let anyone else or thing hurt you either.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. “I know.”

“Do you really?” He asked as he turned to look at me.

“Yeah, I do.” I made sure that I was looking in his eyes when I answered.

“Good.” He leaned over and kissed me.

Because of traffic, it had taken us almost three hours to get to Concord. Zak's psychic friend, Renee, turned out to be a sour-looking, stick-thin, blonde woman who inhaled sharply upon shaking my hand.

“Girl, you've got something nasty clinging to you.” She said as she led us into her living room.

“That is so not what I wanted to hear walking in the door,” I whispered to Zak as we both took seats on the tacky black-leather couch that looked left over from the nineties. The entire room smelled like an incense shop that had moved into a kennel. There were at least six dogs roaming the house but I had lost count after the second poodle.

“Ray, can we just get to it, please?” Zak pressed politely.

Renee rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, let me get Jermaine on your schedule just because this time it's your girlfriend that's in trouble.” She took a seat in the recliner across from us.

Who the hell was Jermaine? I thought that I was only meeting Renee. And did the woman hate me personally or was she just bitchy in general?

Renee didn't give Zak a chance to respond. She turned to me and gave me a hard look before beginning to speak, “My spirit guide, Jermaine, will be guiding my visions and my reading of you.” She explained her process to me.

What the hell kind of name was Jermaine for a spirit guide anyway? Weren't they supposed to have exotic, far-out names like Kulu and Luna?

“Now, I want you to just close your eyes and relax,” Renee instructed in an almost bored tone of voice.

Zak reached over and laid a hand on my thigh. This did not help me to relax nearly as much as he probably thought that it did. I closed my eyes and listened to what Renee had to say.

“The being that is after you isn't a demon.” She surprised me by announcing. This actually made me feel a bit better. At least it wasn't a demon, right?

“It doesn't seem to be repelled by religious artifacts but it always vanishes when you mention God.” I heard Zak speak up from beside me.

“I said it wasn't a demon...I never said that it wasn't from Hell.” Renee laughed darkly and in my head, I was imagining her grinning maniacally like the Evil Queen from _Snow White_. “It's a wraith.” Okay, that sounded even worse than a demon. This couldn't bode well for me.

“She doesn't have the mark.” Zak protested.

Mark? What the hell was he talking about? What mark? I badly wanted to open my eyes but I kept them closed. I was kind of scared of pissing off Renee. She didn't seem like the type of person you disobeyed.

“Hers was inherited. It's on her very soul.” She was literally talking about a human soul and Renee still sounded bored. “Jermaine says she bears the mark of the Exodus Curse.”

Now I just couldn't help myself. I opened my eyes. “Exodus Curse?” I asked even though Renee was glaring at me.

Renee nodded. “Named for the biblical event where legend says it was born...the final plague of Egypt.”

“The death of the firstborn.” I whispered.

“Yes! Nice to know that you've seen _The Prince of Eygpt_...may I continue?” Renee snapped.

I nodded. God, what a bitch!

“This curse is a nasty one...so nasty that I have never heard of it actually being performed.” That was so comforting to hear...NOT! “The first born child in every generation will meet an untimely end.”

I wanted it all to be one big lie. There wasn't a wraith after me. There was no curse. I was simply being stalked by your everyday, run of the mill demon. I just needed an old priest, a young priest, some Holy Water, and I would be good to go on with my life. That's what I wanted to be true but given current events and my family history, I knew that what Renee was saying was the truth. My Papa Phil had died when I was little and he had only been a little over fifty. He was an only child. His father had been the oldest child out of eleven and had been killed in action during World War II. My own dad had been an only child and I was the oldest out of two. The hooded figure (wraith?) had never gone after Willow or Nana Betty. The only time it had attacked anyone but me had been in the very beginning when it had still been gaining strength. Fuck. My. Life. Just like Jack Sparrow in _Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest_ , I was marked for death. 


	8. Time Out

As we made the drive back to Kernersville, I was completely silent. I was having trouble processing all that Renee had told us. Before we had taken our leave of the house, that, in my head, I was now referring to as the Dog Pound, Zak asked Renee if there was any way to break the Exodus Curse. Seeing as the psychic had never heard of the curse actually being performed, she had never heard of it being broken. She did, however, know of a priest, Father Garrison, who might be of assistance. She promised to contact him and see what help he could offer. Now, all we could do was wait for her phone call.

Much like myself, Zak had also been silent for the drive. He had a stony look on his face as he watched the road, his tight Ed Hardy t-shirt did nothing to hide the fact that his muscles were tight and his whole body was tense. He held my hand while he drove, his grip firm but not painful. It was like he didn't want to let me go.

So lost was I in my thoughts that it was almost an hour into our journey before I realized that we weren't heading in the direction of the plantation. We weren't even headed towards the plantation. We weren't headed towards Kernersville at all. The Carolina foothills were quickly turning into mountains.

“Um... Zak?” I turned to look at him as he turned into a rest stop. “Where the hell are we going?”

“Tennessee,” he answered as he pulled into a parking spot next to... Willow's Mustang?

Sure enough, my baby sister was soon opening the back door of the jeep and throwing a blue duffel bag and my favorite Doctor Who backpack into the backseat. This completed, she moved to my window and tapped on it to get me to roll it down, which I did.

“That should get her through a few weeks at least,” she spoke to Zak and not me and I had finally had enough.

“What the fuck is going on?” I snapped. A lady, I had never been accused of being. When I was upset, I cursed like a sailor on shore leave.

“You and Zak are going to a cabin in Gatlinburg until this is all over,” Willow clued me in. “He texted and asked me to pack for you and meet you guys here. He didn't want to tell you the plan right away because he knew you would bitch about it.”

I turned and glared at Zak but, internally, I was trying to figure out how in the hell he had gotten to know me so well in just two days.... because bitching is exactly what I would have done.

“Anyway, I love you,” Willow leaned in and kissed my cheek, “Be safe... and try not to kill Zak, please. We can't afford a good defense attorney.”

Once Willow had gotten back in her car and driven off, I turned to Zak. “Care you explain yourself?” I asked dryly.

“Come on.” He took the keys out of the ignition and got out.

I got out and followed him to a picnic table that sat in a shaded spot next to the rest stop cafe. He took a seat on the bench and before I could do the same, he pulled me to sit on his lap. He laid a kiss on my neck and spoke into my skin. “I'm scared, Persephone. I've never faced anything like this before and I don't want to lose you, baby. I just found you. Until we find a way to break the curse, I want to devote all of my attention to keeping you safe. It's easier for me to do that at my cabin. It's probably safer for everyone at the plantation if you're not there anyway. Please, don't be mad at me, sweetheart.”

How could I be when he was being this sweet and amazing? “Your cabin, huh?” I turned so he could see my smile. I wasn't good at expressing my feelings. This was my way of showing that I wasn't mad at him.

“Yeah, well, if we are going to hide out, we might as well do it in style.” He smirked. “And, perhaps, I just want my baby in my bed... well, one of them anyway,”

One of them? How many homes did my boyfriend have? For once, I kiss him first, because, as usual, I had no idea what the hell to say.


	9. Gatlinburg

We arrived in Gatlinburg, Tennessee two and a half hours later. Nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, most of the town's main strip was designed to be a tourist trap. It was littered with small shops, chain motels, mini-golf courses, and a _Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum_. Zak drove us past all of this, to the more deserted part of town where most of Gatlinburg's residents lived. His small cabin sat right at the base of a small mountain and was the only residence on this street.

“So, are you the Unabomber in your free time?” I joked as he opened my door and gave me a hand out of the jeep. “Why buy a place that's so secluded?”

“It's nice to get away from it all sometimes,” Zak said as he grabbed our bags in one hand and wrapped his other around my waist to lead me to the front door. “Plus, the _Ripley's_ museum is pretty bad ass, they have Dillinger's death mask, and I figured one day I might have an anti-social girlfriend that might appreciate the solitude,” he joked as we climbed the steps and he dropped his arm from my waist to dig out his keys to unlock the door.

“Very funny.” I glared at him as he pushed open the door and stepped aside to let me enter first.

“I thought so.” He lightly smacked my ass as I walked past him.

I squealed and spun around to face him in shock. “Zak! What the hell?!” He had never touched me like that before.

Zak dropped our bags by the door before quickly closing and locking it. Chore completed, he started advancing on me like he was a nineteenth century outlaw and I was a train full of gold. Before I knew it, his mouth was on mine and he had me pinned on my back on the black leather couch. When he finally broke the kiss, I was left panting for breath. “Have I ever told you how fucking sexy you are?” he asked against my lips. “That first night, seeing you in nothing but that Kurt Cobain t-shirt... fuck... you have no idea what I wanted to do to your delectable little body. He nuzzled his nose against the skin of my neck before laying a kiss on my pulse point.

The combination of his words and his actions sent an involuntary shiver down my spine and drew a small moan from my lips.

“When do you think you'll be ready for me, baby?” Zak brought a hand up to lightly caress the side of one of my breasts over the fabric of my shirt. Oh, he did not play fair. “I'm not trying to rush you and I'll wait as long as you need me to but you have no idea how badly I want you, Persephone.” Nope. Not fair AT ALL.

“My body says tonight,” I chuckled. “But my heart and my mind are waiting for something else.” I nervously chewed on my bottom lip. I really didn't want to have to explain further.

“What are they waiting for, baby?” He kissed me softly.

I turned my head away and refused to answer.

“Hey,” he said as he caught my chin and gently turned my head to make me look at him. “I'm sorry if I came on too strong. I already told you that I'm dominant and possessive but I haven't been able to act on it with your grandma and Willow around. Having you alone like this... it kinda came spilling out.”

I actually laughed at his apology. “That's not it, babe.” Had I just called him babe? “I actually like this side of you.” I assured him because it was the truth.

“Come on, baby, talk to me.” He leaned down and rubbed his nose against mine. “Tell me what you need.”

I took a deep breath before saying, “you.”

“You have me, Persephone, exclusively. You know that.” He gazed down at me in confusion.

“No, ALL of you.” I prayed that he would decode the meaning of my words so that I wouldn't have to say the words out loud.

Zak seemed to think over what I said for a moment before a look of understanding dawned on his handsome face. “You need me to love you.” He reached up and brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes. “We have to love each other.”

Relieved that he understood what I was saying, I simply nodded.

A big grin came over his face and he leaned down for a quick kiss before saying, “well, I don't know about you, baby, but we're at least halfway there because... I love you, Persephone.”

“WHAT?!” I sat up so quickly at his words that I accidentally pushed Zak off the couch and he landed on the hardwood floor with a thump.

“Ow...”


	10. Titanic

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I demanded to know. “You can't love me! You haven't even known me for a week!”

Poor Zak was still on the floor, rubbing the back of his head because he had hit it on the coffee table when he had fallen (with my assistance) from the couch.

“I'm pretty sure that, yeah, I do love you.” It was odd because he was glaring at me as he professed his love for me. “Although right now I find myself wondering why.”

“It hasn't even been a week!” I felt compelled to (loudly) point out again.

“Yeah, I know! My phone has a fucking calendar!” Zak snapped. “Why do you have that stupid 'Titanic' movie poster on your wall?”

I was momentarily shocked silent. That was a very strange change of subject. “Because it's my favorite love story,” I admitted. All girls had that one movie and mine was 'Titanic'.

Zak smirked. “How long did Jack and Rose know each other?”

Oh, that sneaky bastard, using my favorite movie against me.

“Jack and Rose only needed three days to fall in love and guess what, baby? It's been the same amount of time for us.” He got to his feet and moved to stand directly in front of me. “I love you, Persephone and I think you're freaking out right now because you love me too and you're too scared to admit it.”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes but I was stubborn and refused to let them fall.

“What if I walked away from you right now? Just left you and never talked to you again?”

What the fuck was he talking about? Was he breaking up with me because I hadn't said it back? I started to royally freak out. In that moment, nothing, not even the curse scared as much as the thought of losing Zak.

He pushed me to lay back on the couch and he covered my body with his own. “Calm down, baby.” He nuzzled my cheek. “You know that panic that you're feeling right now? Do you know what that is?”

“What?” My voice shook a bit.

“Love,” he said laying a kiss on the tip of my nose. “You're freaking out because you don't want to lose me. Do you want to know why I'd never leave you? Because it would destroy me to hurt you like that. Do you know why that would kill me?”

“Why?” This time my voice broke completely.

“Because I love you.” He reached up and caressed my cheek. “So, I guess I'm going to have to drag you all over the world with me, make love to you in so many different places that we lose track of the cities. Eventually, I'll talk you into marrying me and having a few anti-social monsters who grow up to dye their hair all sorts of odd colors.”

I laughed as a few tears spilled over despite my best efforts to hold them back. “I love you, Zak.” I freely admitted and it felt wonderful. It was made even better by the huge grin that came over Zak's face right before his mouth came down on mine in a plundering, intoxicating kiss.


	11. New Life

To my surprise, we didn't make love that night. I had kind of expected Zak to pounce after hearing me say that I loved him...but he didn't. My possessive, alpha-male boyfriend had, instead of sex, chosen to hold me close for the rest of the night, occasionally kissing me and saying the words that he now seemed addicted to, but mostly just enjoying the intimacy of cuddling. I don't know why, but for some reason, that made the night better, made it feel like those three little words meant more to us.

It was now the middle of the afternoon and I was curled up on the porch swing in the backyard with the book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief on my lap. Zak had stepped inside a few minutes earlier to take a call from Nick and to see if he could get ahold of Father Garrison. I hoped that one of them had good news. While I loved being shacked up alone with Zak in the middle of nowhere, I'd like the chance to enjoy it without the fear of death hanging over my head.

Percy had just arrived at Camp Half-Blood when Zak came out onto the porch with his phone in his hand... and a weird look on his handsome face.

“What's wrong?” I asked, setting my book on the small table beside me.

“Nothing... I don't think.” Zak shook his head almost like he was confused. “Nick found out something unusual about your birth and Father Garrison says that we can use it to break the curse.”

“A way to break the curse... isn't that a good thing?” I asked in befuddlement. “And what was so weird about my birth?”

“You're the only first-born girl in your entire family line as far as Nick can find,” Zak answered.

“How does me having a vagina help break the curse?” If Nana Betty was there she would have slapped me silly for speaking so (clinically correct) crudely.

Zak grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Before you freak out, please, remember that I love you and that I'm completely okay with this solution, I'm happy about it even.”

“Zak, what is it?” I was growing both frustrated and scared by the way he was beating around the bush.

“New life can defeat death according to Father Garrison. If the firstborn child in your family line can birth new life, SHE can break the curse created by death. Persephone, with your birth, came your family's first and probably only chance of breaking this curse.” After he explained, he took a small step back. He was still holding me but now he could also watch my face to gauge my reaction.

What the hell was my reaction? Zak had basically (I think) just told me that, at twenty-one, if I wanted to go on living, I had to have a child. But that's not all Zak had said... was it? He'd also reminded me that he loved me. He said that he'd be happy with the solution.

“You want to have a baby with me?” I blurted out the word vomit.

Zak chuckled before pulling me closer once again. “I want a lot of things with you, baby,” he spoke lowly in my ear. “Normally, I'd want to do things on my own terms but if it keeps you safe and keeps you with me, I wouldn't mind getting you in trouble, sweetheart.” He laid a kiss on the shell of my ear before pulling back to look at me again. “Kids were always in the future I saw for us, things are just moving a little faster for us than for most couples. So, what about you – want to get married and have a baby?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the "new life defeats death" is inspired by Final Destination.


	12. Yes

“ _So, what about you – want to get married and have a baby?”_

“Ge... get married?” I stuttered. I could understand the baby. I pretty much had to have one of those in order to stay alive. But why did he have to throw marriage into the mix? “I'm barely twenty-one.”

“Yeah,” he nodded and squeezed my waist. “I know how old you are, baby. We're talking about you getting pregnant with my child and I hate to break to you but I'm kinda old-fashioned. I believe that marriage should come before the baby cradle.”

“Oh, don't try and tell me that you're religious,” I snorted in genuine amusement.

Zak gave me a funny look. “With what I do for a living did you really think that I wasn't? I grew up Catholic, sweetheart. Every time I made that wraith disappear... it was with God's help.”

I really never stopped to think about it. In my terror, I only saw the evil. I never acknowledged the divine intervention that had chased it away. If Zak loved me enough to have a baby with me to save my life, I needed to be willing to give compromise on this one. I really did love him. He was going to be the father of my child and I had no desire to ever be with anyone else. I laid a gentle kiss on his lips. “Ask me again.”

He smiled and pulled me closer. “Marry me, Persephone?”

“Yes,” I nodded before smirking. “You owe me a ring, buddy,” I joked.

Seeing as I had only been joking, Zak took me by surprise when he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a ring. “Will this do?” He released me from his arms and took a step back as he offered it to me.

It was a very unique looking ring. It was set with an oval moonstone surrounded by tiny diamonds and set in either platinum or white gold. It looked almost Edwardian in age.

“Do you just walk around with antique engagement rings in your pocket at all times?” I looked at him in confusion. Where had the ring come from? If he had just spoken to Nick and Father Garrison than he couldn't have had the time to buy a ring. He hadn't even left the cabin since they had arrived.

Zak chuckled before reaching up and scratching the back of his neck. “It was my grandma's,” he explained. “It was her engagement ring. My grandpa brought it back from Korea after the war. She left it to me when she passed away. I've carried it with me ever since.” Reaching for my left hand, he slid the ring on my finger. “I've always wanted to see it on the hand of the woman I loved enough to marry.” He brought my hand up to his lips and laid a kiss on the ring. “Now there it is.”

I couldn't help myself. I launched myself into his arms and cried happy tears into his chest.


	13. I-have-to-or-I'll-die Wedding

“What the holy fuck am I doing?” I wasn't sure if I was talking to myself, Willow, or Nana Betty as I gazed at myself in the floor-length mirror.

Zak had found a small tourist trap wedding chapel in town and Willow and Nana Betty had driven to Tennessee from North Carolina to attend our quickie, I-have-to-or-I'll-die wedding ceremony. Nana Betty brought along the simple satin and lace wedding gown that she had worn to her own wedding half a century earlier.

“You're marrying the man you love and who loves you back,” Nana Betty assured me as she placed sprigs of baby's breath in the French braid that Willow had been kind enough to do for me because I totally sucked at hairstyling. The white of the baby's breath complimented the blue and almost made it look like I had snowflakes in my hair.

“So you won't die.” Willow couldn't help but throw in.

“Willow Jane, hush,” Nana Betty chastised. “I have a feeling that you and Zak would have gotten here eventually, curse or no curse. I'm not worried in the least. That should make you feel better.” She kissed my cheek before going to the small fridge in the corner of the dressing room to retrieve the bouquet of wildflowers and honeysuckle buds that she had thrown together from her own garden.

Actually, it did make me feel better. Nana Betty was the biggest worry wart that I knew. If she wasn't worried about something, I tended not to worry either.

“Now…,” Nana Betty returned and handed me my bouquet, “do we need to have a talk about the one-eyed snake ahead of your wedding night?”

“Oh, dear heavens, please no!” I didn't need to start off my marriage with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The actual wedding ceremony was boring and, in my opinion, far too long. Why did women look forward to their wedding ceremonies? The only enjoyable part was when I saw Zak's eyes light up with happiness when the minister pronounced us man and wife right before he pulled me in for a deep, slow kiss. Yeah, that part I really liked.

After the ceremony, we all went out for dinner at Zak's favorite restaurant in town, _The Melting Pot_ , before Willow and Nana Betty had to get back on the road to North Carolina.

Now, I found myself alone with my new husband for the first time since we said 'I do.' “You alright, baby?” Zak wrapped his arms around my waist as we stood at the foot of the (our?) bed in the bedroom of the cabin.

“You're gonna try and get me pregnant tonight.” It was really terrifying for me to think about. What if I was a bad mom? I had pretty much grown up without one. What did I know? I was barely old enough to drink!

“No.” Zak shook his head with a loving smile on his face. “I'm making love to my beautiful wife for the first time. We're just forgetting about the birth control part.”

Zak had to have been made just for me. How else did you explain how he always knew the exact right thing to say to me to calm me down? I wasn't an idiot. I knew that I was a handful and a half to deal with.

I wrapped my arms loosely around his neck. “Well, when you put it like that... what are we waiting for?”


	14. Wedding Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna go ahead and dedicate this chapter to my husband. He really does get mad at me when I talk down about myself and my looks and for some reason actually does think I'm God's gift. He's done more for my self-esteem than therapy, my exes, and all of my friends combined and I absolutely adore him for it.

As Zak laid me down on the mattress, I was shivering out of both nervousness and anticipation. We were both nude and I knew that I still carried around some puberty caused baby fat. Next to my husband's rock hard psyche, I knew that I just couldn't compete. I was going to be the why-is-he-with-her kind of wife. We just didn't fit.

When Zak sat back on his heels, a porn star's cock proudly standing at attention, looking me over, I couldn't help but cover myself with my arms. This actually seemed to make my new husband angry.

“Don't you fucking do that shit,” he snarled, capturing my hands and pinning them to the bed on either side of my head. “You're beautiful,” he leaned down and started laying soft kisses up the side of my neck. “You're sexy,” he spoke between suckles and nips to my skin. “Smart, sweet...everything I ever fucking wanted. You're mine and I'm yours...forever.”

Okay, so you had domineering Zak and then you had this Zak. I liked this side of him. I liked it very much. This behavior from any other man would have terrified me but with Zak, it had the effect of making me feel beautiful and worshipped. I was left with zero doubt that my new husband was just as attracted to me as I was to him. It also gave me a boost of confidence.

Arching up against him, I purposely pressed my breasts against his bare chest as I kissed him, lightly sucking on his bottom lip as he did to me when he wanted to get me worked up.

Zak growled deep in his throat before deepening the kiss, his hands exploring every inch of skin that they could reach. When he broke away from the kiss, he started a trail from my neck down to my breasts with his tongue. He was sure to pay each breast equal attention, alternating between gentle sucking and biting. Finally, he pulled away with an obscene pop. “You know,” he slithered back until he was laying between my legs. Now, I had zero experience and it wasn't like I was into watching porn but even I could tell that Zak was hung like a horse and it scared me a little. “I've been wondering something ever since the first time I saw you in that Nirvana t-shirt that barely covered this fine little ass of yours.” One of his hands found its way underneath me and squeezed my ass. It wasn't a gentle squeeze but it wasn't rough either. It caused a perfect mixture of pleasure and pain.

“What's that?”

“What this sweet little pussy would taste like.”

Zak didn't give me time to completely comprehend his words. He moved down my body, parting my legs with his hands on my thighs before leaning forward and starting to devour me like a death row inmate gorging on his last meal.

“Holy fuck,” I gasped as he swirled his tongue over my clit. I was getting so close but I didn't want to fall over the edge yet, not like this. I willed the pleasure coil in my stomach to unwind as I pushed as Zak's shoulders to get him to stop. “Fuck, Zak, baby, please stop.”

“What's wrong, sweetheart?” Zak pulled away and looked at me in concern as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Nothing,” I shook my head and smiled. “I just don't want to cum until you're inside me.”

“Fuck, baby,” he growled before retaking his place between my thighs, his cock sliding along my folds, brushing my clit and making me crave it. He reached down and took himself in hand, rubbing his tip along my entrance. “You ready for me my beautiful wife?”

“Past ready,” I assured, arching up into him.

Slowly, tenderly, Zak entered me for the first time. At first, the stretching was uncomfortable and the sharp sting that came with my hymen breaking wasn't pleasant. But then, Zak reached between us and began circling my clit with the pad of his thumb.

“Oh, God,” I arched up, causing him to bottom out inside me.

“There ya go, baby. Now you're starting to enjoy this.” He repositioned his hips and took away the pleasure of his hand. It didn't matter. The new angle caused his pelvic bone to grind against my clit.

The coil of desire wound tight and was about to snap but I needed something. “Zak, I'm so close but I want to feel you cum with me.” I ran my hand up his sweaty chest.

Zak took my words as a challenge. He grabbed my right leg, wrapping it around his hip as he picked up his pace. “Fuck, baby,” he buried his face in my neck. “I'm gonna cum. Cum with me...NOW!”

Zak lightly bit down on my neck and I came with a scream as he jerked and spilled himself inside me.

We didn't speak for several minutes. Zak rested half on top of me as we caught our breath. Finally, he leaned up on his elbow to look at me. “I love you, Persephone.” He brushed some of my sweat soaked hair out of my face and cupped my cheek in his hand.

“I love you too,” I turned my head and kissed his palm.


	15. Positive

We had gone home three weeks after the wedding. For now, home was one of the guest cabins beside Abbotts Creek, far removed from the main house. I wasn't allowed anywhere near the main house out of fear for my (and everyone else's) safety.

Currently, I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub waiting on the results of a home pregnancy test. I was two weeks late for my period. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I was pregnant. Zak dragged me to bed (and a lot of other, not always legal places) every chance that he got.

I hadn't told Zak that I was taking the test. To make up for the downtime of 'Ghost Adventures' he was working on a six-part docuseries about the ghosts and legends of the North Carolina Piedmont. The first episode was going to be focused on the ghosts of Abbotts Creek. He was in the cabin's small kitchen going over some footage with Aaron and I didn't want to disturb his work if I was wrong.

The timer on my phone went off and I picked up the test off the sink. One digital word was in the window: **PREGNANT**.

Almost as soon as I thought the word, the lightbulb in the fixture above the mirror exploded.

I screamed bloody murder and Zak came running through the door a moment later. I could see Aaron standing in the bedroom behind him. “What happened?”

“The lightbulb blew up,” I explained. “Can you ask Aaron to leave, please?” I made the request under my breath.

“Aaron, bad lightbulb,” Zak called over his shoulder. “Why don't you take off for the night? I'll call you tomorrow.”

Once Aaron was gone, Zak pulled me into the bedroom and pushed me to sit down on the bed. “What's going on, baby?”

I handed him the pregnancy test. “It's positive.”

A slow grin spread across his Zak's face as he read the word in the digital window. “We're having a baby?”

“If that test is telling the truth, thank, yeah, we are.” I couldn't help but smile a little bit. I had grown used to the idea of being a mom in the last month. Now I was kind of looking forward to it.

“Come here, sweetheart,” he grabbed my hand and gently pulled me to my feet. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. “I love you,” he leaned down and kissed me.

“I love you too,” I told him when we parted. “But I don't think that was a bad lightbulb.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Zak, the lightbulb blew at the exact moment that I found out I'm pregnant. The wraith was here and it knows I'm pregnant.”

“Fuck,” Zak's arms tightened around me in what seemed to be an unconscious move. He kissed my forehead. “I'll call Father Garrison and see what we can do about protecting you both.”

That's when the terror hit. The wraith hurting me I could somewhat handle. But the thought of the curse and the wraith harming my unborn child filled me with a cold dread the likes of which I had never known. “Zak, I'm scared.” I buried my face in his chest.

“Don't be,” he kissed the top of my head and continued to hold me close. “No one and nothing is gonna hurt my family.”


	16. Father Garrison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Madonna's 'This Used To Be My Playground.” I don't wanna own that song. Every time I hear it, it makes me cry like an infant. Hard pass there, dude.

The next day, Father Garrison paid us a visit to discuss protecting me for the duration of my pregnancy. The man of God looked nothing like I expected. I guess I kind of expected him to look like the old priest from 'The Exorcist' so when he arrived I was taken aback by how young he was, probably around Zak's age, and the fact that he was wearing jeans and a Carolina Panthers football jersey instead of a clerical shirt and collar. I didn't know priests were allowed to dress like that. Father Garrison was tall with blue eyes and red hair. He kind of reminded me more of a watered down Prince Harry than a priest.

“I can ward the house with prayer,” was the priest's first recommendation as we sat on the small back porch around the patio table. “We can make it a weekly routine during the pregnancy. I'd also advise you to have shaman bless and cleanse the house. I know a member of the Catawba tribe that would be willing to come out and do it. I can give him a call.”

Whoa. Were priests allowed to recommend the spiritual services of other religions or was Father Garrison one of those cool rouge priests?

“Yeah,” Zak nodded from the seat beside me and reached out and took my hand. “Do that, please. What if that doesn't work?”

“Travel, stay one step ahead of the wraith long enough for Persephone to give birth.” Father Garrison leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “Now, we know what the curse is but has anyone figured out who cast it and why? That information could prove to be helpful.”

I shook my head. “Whoever cast it is at least a few hundred years dead and my grandmother hasn't been able to find any mention of the curse in the family archives.”

“Aaron and Persephone's sister, Willow, have slowly been working the family history backward to see if they can pinpoint when exactly the curse took effect and who the first victim was.” Zak sighed. “It's taking a while. The Story family has been in the area since before America was founded. They haven't even made it back to the 19th century yet.”

Father Garrison nodded, seemingly distracted, before getting to his feet. “I'm also going to put in a request with the archdiocese if North Carolina to perform an exorcism on the main house. I highly doubt that it will work but anything's worth trying at this point.”

Father Garrison's advice was to pray, run, and perform an exorcism that probably wouldn't work. I was not left feeling very confident of my chances of survival.

Once the priest departed, Zak must have noticed my mood turn melancholy. “Hey Persephone, you're acting like winter came early,” he kidded as he wrapped his arms around me as I stood on the porch gazing out at the waters of Abbotts Creek. A line an old Madonna song was running through my head. 

“This used to be my playground,  
This used to be my childhood dream...”

Not anymore. My childhood dream had turned into a waking nightmare. “That's how I feel,” I snorted. “And the wraith is Hades, come to take me to the Underworld.”

I saw no hope for the future in front of me. I didn't have one it appeared and neither did my baby.


	17. Annabelle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This chapter was written prior to Lorraine Warren's death. RIP Lorraine. I'm happy she's back with Ed. 
> 
> Author's Note II: The real Annabelle doll is not as freaky as depicted in the movies. She's a Raggedy Ann doll (which were honestly always creepy to me anyway) and she is not owned by Zak but by the Warren family. I wouldn't be surprised if he did buy it at some point in the future though.

Father Garrison managed to keep the wraith at bay right up until my sixth month of pregnancy.

The day had started normal enough. We had woken early that morning because Zak had a conference call scheduled with his museum and Lorraine Warren. Lorraine had sold Zak the famously possessed Annabelle doll and he was trying to get Lorraine to record the doll's history for an exhibit. ' _The Conjuring_ ' films had made the doll, and Lorraine herself, world-famous. 

While Zak was on the phone, I ate breakfast before going to get ready for the day. A month earlier we had moved into the manger's cottage on the property because it was larger than our last temporary residence. Our bedroom faced a spare bedroom that we were using to store all of the baby stuff we had collected. We hadn't decided if we were staying in North Carolina, expanding the cabin in Tennessee, or moving to Zak's home in Las Vegas. The wraith made it where all normal life decisions were put on hold and left in limbo. We didn't know where our family home was yet so we hadn't set up a nursery. I was hoping to make the drive to Concord to do some shopping at the mall. We had found out just the day before that we were having a son and I wanted to ship for little boys' clothes. Zak had agreed to go with me after his call.

I sat on our bed, stuffing my wallet and cell phone into my purse when I saw it. A Raggedy Ann doll was sitting on top of the box that contained the baby's crib. Where the fuck had that come from? Forgetting my purse, I ran into the kitchen.

Zak was hanging up the phone. “What's wrong, baby?”

“Remind me again – what kind of doll is Annabelle?”

“A Raggedy Ann doll.” Zak looked worried. 

“And where is Annabelle right now?” I moved closer and happily allowed him to wrap his arms around my waist. 

“Vegas,” his arms tightened. “Baby, tell me what's wrong,” he ordered gently.

“I swear I just saw Annabelle in the spare bedroom.”

To my surprise, Zak chuckled and pulled away from me. “Baby, come here.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. Arriving in the spare room, he grabbed the doll. “This is a prototype of a doll that's going to be sold in the museum. I thought it might be cool for Nico to have.” Nico was the name that we had given to our baby boy. Nico Blaise. 

“No,” I shook my head, laughing a bit at my own expense. “Our son is not playing with an Annabelle prototype.”

Zak laughed and kissed me before putting the doll back in the box. 

It was as we were pulling out of the driveway that Zak asked, “Why did you take the doll out of the box?”

“What?” I was confused. 

“Annabelle. I left her in the box she was shipped in. Why did you take her out if she scared you so much?”

My voice was trembling with terror when I responded, “Zak...I never touched that doll.”


	18. He's Mad At You

One the mad dash back to our place on Abbotts Creek, Zak placed a panicked phone call to his haunted museum in Las Vega, demanding to know where the Annabelle doll was. He had the call set to the car's blue-tooth so I was able to hear every word of the conversation. Zak knew how much I hated to be left out of the loop.

"Uh, Zak, dude," the museum curator came back on the line after going to view the security camera footage. "I don't know how to say this. I'm not even sure how it happened –"

"WHAT IS IT," Zak shouted.

"The security footage is missing but we have every reason to believe that the Annabelle doll that we have on display is a replica. The real doll is in your house. You need to get a priest out there...NOW!"

"Shit!" Zak stabbed the button on the steering wheel to end the call. "Baby, call your grandmother and tell her that she needs to get everyone off of the property right fucking now."

I did as I was told but I couldn't reach Nana. Her cell phone was turned off. I tried Willow but I kept reaching a message that told me that she was outside of her coverage area.

"Zak, I can't get through to anyone," my lower lip was trembling in fright as I spoke.

"Call the business number for the inn," Zak ordered as he used one hand to drive, the other to text. "I'm having Father Garrison meet us at the house."

I dialed the inn's business number and put the phone on speaker.

"The number you have dialed has been disconnected."

When he heard that message, Zak put the gas pedal to the floor.***When we arrived back at the inn, I ignored my husband's order to stay in the car. I followed him as he made his way to the main house. It was early afternoon and the weather was beautiful. Still, the property was deserted in a way that it had not been when we had departed forty-five minutes earlier. No one was wandering the grounds or sitting in the rocking chairs on the back porch that overlooked the creek. No birds were singing and no crickets chirped. Even the wind seemed to be too scared to blow.

"Persephone, baby," Zak turned to me when we reached the front door. "Look at me." He waited for me to meet his eye before he continued. "Something's very wrong here. I need to keep you and Nico safe. Promise me if I tell you to run, you'll run."

I nodded.

"I need the words, baby."

"I promise."

"Good," he quickly kissed me. "I love you, Persephone and I love Nico." It sounded like he was saying goodbye.

"We love you too, Zak," I choked out.

At that moment, a slip of torn notebook paper came lidding out from beneath the door. Zak bent down to pick it up. The message had been written in red crayon in a childish script.

_*** He's mad at you...*** _


	19. Karma, She’s a Bitch

When Zak and I entered the main house, you could actually feel the evil in the musty air. It was a new feeling for me. I was physically uncomfortable, but I couldn’t tell exactly why. The energy in the house just didn’t _feel_ right.

“Zak, Persephone, so glad you could both finally make it.”

I recognized that voice! When we turned to our right, we found Father Garrison standing behind the desk, a sinister grin on his lips.

“You?” I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it. Why would a _priest_ want me dead?

“Yes, me,” Father Garrison snapped.

“But why?” Zak demanded. “You’ve been the one helping us to protect Persephone. Why would you want the wraith to get her?”

Father Garrison laughed, slapping one hand down on the front desk’s counter. “You really think I’ve been helping you? No,” he shook his head. “I’ve been helping myself. I’m the one who counseled you to agree to film here in the first place, remember, Zak? I told you to knock the little bitch up. And, while it is true that the baby has the power to end the Story family curse by taking its first breath of life…I don’t intend to let that happen. You see, if your precious baby dies in the womb, I’ll be able to cast a spell that keeps the curse going forever. It would have naturally expired after the wraith takes just two more souls.”

“Why do you even give a fuck about my family?” I wanted to know. “We’ve done nothing to you. Until Zak, I never even met you before.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Father Garrison agreed. “But your ancestors did. You see, the Story family stole the land we’re standing on from the Garrison family. My ancestor, Markus Garrison, co-owned this land with Zebadiah Story. Markus Garrison was forced to sail back to his native England one winter to care for his kids after the death of his wife, Rebecca, before he could bring his family over to the New World. When Markus was finally able to return to America three years later, he found that Zebadiah had taken full control of this land once a local government had been established. Zebadiah filed the original deed for the property in his name only, cutting Markus out completely. The Story family became the founders of this town and celebrated in its history. My family’s name was left out of the history books. But that’s okay, a few generations later a voodoo priestess taught another one of my ancestors, Charles Garrison, a spell that would punish your family for centuries.”

“You only have one problem.” Zak held up a single finger.

“And what’s that?” Father Garrison asked in a bored drawl.

“You involved Annabelle.”

Father Garrison suddenly let out a pained scream and collapsed to the ground, clutching his ankle. Running around the desk, we found the demented man of the cloth bleeding out on the floor. A #2 pencil had been stabbed in an artery and the Annabelle doll lay innocently on the floor beside him, a note laying on her chest. ‘ _You’re welcome_ ,’ it read in a childish scribble. Father Garrison had no chance of survival. He had already lost too much blood and we weren’t exactly rushing to help him. We more or less ignored him because karma truly is a bitch.

“Baby, go outside and call 911,” Zak instructed as he carefully picked up Annabelle like she was a ticking time bomb…which she pretty much was. “I know how to handle her, but I don’t want you in here while I do. I’ll secure her and look for the others.”

I did as I was told.

It was as I stood on the porch, speaking to the emergency operator that the first contraction hit.


	20. The Inbetween

I knew that something was wrong the moment I felt the first contraction hit. The pain was too sudden and much too sharp. I remember watching as Zak ran around to the cellar and released Nana Betty, Willow, and the unlucky guests who had simply been at the wrong place at the totally wrong time. After that, another even sharper contraction his and I felt a terrifyingly warm gush of liquid between my legs. The world around me start to spin. I heard Zak and my family calling me, but everything faded to black.

***

_I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t how I had gotten there. Nothing around me was solid. Everything seemed to be made of light and clouds even though I knew that wasn’t possible. I had to be **somewhere** , and my surroundings had to be made out of **something**. _

_“You have to go home, sweetpea.”_

_I would know that gruff voice with the strong southern twang anywhere, but I heard it in years. Ill health and the family curse had silenced it forever – or so I thought._

_“Papa?” I turned and found myself face to face with my beloved grandfather._

_Papa smiled and nodded. He reached out a rough and weathered hand and lightly tugged on my hair. “Happy to see my blonde princess back. You’ve had some interesting colors over the past few years.”_

_I felt tears welling up in my eyes. “You saw all of that?” I had let the blue grow out of my hair when I had found out that I was expecting Nico. Hair dye and the chemicals it contained weren’t good for pregnant women and their babies._

_“I’ve never been too far away from you, your sister, and Nana,” Papa explained. “And as happy as I am to see you, sweetpea, you’re here a little bit too early.”_

_“Where are we? What happened to me?”_

_“You lost a lot of blood delivering your son. This place,” Papa gestured around them, “is called the Inbetween. It’s where people catch their connecting flight to the afterlife, but your flight doesn’t leave for decades yet.”_

_I had lost blood delivering my son? The last thing I remembered was being outside and feeling contractions. “Is Nico okay?” I didn’t care a lick about myself, but I needed to know that my son had survived._

_Papa nodded with a grin. “He’s a bit of a runt but he’s healthy as a horse. He needs his momma. Your husband needs his wife. Sweetpea, you have that poor boy all torn up inside. Zak lives and breathes for you and your boy. You can’t leave him. He’ll never be the same. You two did it. You broke the curse. Not it’s time for your happily ever after. I love you sweetpea but go home.”_

***  
I opened my eyes to find myself in a hospital bed at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Zak was asleep in the chair next beside my legs and he was holding my hand tightly in his.

“Zak,” I shook the hand that he was holding. My voice sounded hoarse, but I didn’t care.

Zak slowly lifted his head. His hair was a mess and I could tell he’d been crying because his eyes were swollen and red. When he saw that I was the one who had awoken him, he grinned as a tear escaped his eye. Getting to his feet, he cradled my head in his hands. He laid a father soft kiss on my lips and only spoke two words. “Hey, baby.”


	21. The End

“He is so tiny,” I marveled as my newborn son lay in my arms, peacefully sleeping after his first time nursing.

Zak chuckled from his place, sitting behind me on the bed, letting me lean against his chest. “Well, he wasn’t fully cooked yet.” He reached out and lightly stroked Nico’s head. “Didn’t stop our boy from raising hell the moment they pulled from you. Nico’s got a bit mouth, just like his mommy,” he teased.

I giggled and laid my head on his shoulder. “We did it, Zak. He’s here, and he’s safe.”

Zak kissed my cheek. “ _You_ did it, baby, I love you so much.”

***

** 10 YEARS LATER **

** LAS VEGAS, NEVADA **

“Mom, do you know where my EMF meter is?” Nico, a little clone of his father, was searching all over the living room for the ‘toy’ in question. Only the son of Zak Bagans would request – and get – an EMF meter for his tenth birthday.

“Last time I saw it, it was sitting on your desk in your room,” I answered from the kitchen (our whole downstairs had an open floor-plan, so we could see and speak to one another easily between rooms.) where I was finishing up unloading the dishwasher. “Run upstairs and look but, please, do not wake up your brother.”

I had welcomes two more children after Nico. My daughter, Leighla Thames, was seven now and with her dad on a run to the grocery store. We hadn’t planned on having another child after Leighla. We were happy with the two healthy children we had been blessed with. Colton Blake had been an unexpected but welcome surprise just eight months earlier.

“Mommy, we’re home!” I heard Leighla before I saw her.

“I hear that,” I laughed.

“We got the milk,” my little clone came running into the kitchen.

Zak handed me the glass bottle of organic milk. Our picky, privileged children wouldn’t drink milk that came out of a plastic jug. He dropped a quick kiss to my lips. “You almost ready to go?”

“Yeah, Savannah should be here any minute, and Colt’s down for the night.”

Savannah was a teenage neighbor that babysat for us from time to time. Zak and I were about to head out to a book release party that was being held at our haunted museum on the Vegas strip.

The side door that led from the kitchen out to the garage opened, and sixteen-year-old Savannah popped her blonde head in. “Knock, knock.”

“Come on, him,” I smiled. Putting away the milk, I turned to give Savannah instructions for the night. “Colt’s down for the night, but if he wakes up before we get back, there are bottles in the fridge. Nico and Leighla can stay up until ten tonight.” I snapped my fingers. “Oh, yeah, and no matter what Nico tells you, he is NOT allowed to watch _Supernatural_ with his sister. It gives Leighla nightmares.”

After a round of hugs and kissed for the kids, we headed out. My stomach was in knots during the ten-minute car ride to the museum.

“You ready for this, baby?” Zak wrapped his arm around my waist after taking the ticket from the valet.

I looked up at the banner hanging above the entrance to the museum.

_* THE CURSE OF ABBOTTS CREEK_

_ A TRUE STORY _

_BY **PERSEPHONE BAGANS**_

_RELEASE PARTY TONIGHT_

_INVITE ONLY *_

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I chuckled.

**_ FINIS _ **


End file.
